Stop Searching the Skies for Life

Raya Bidshahri, 25 Jan 2012
As much as I’d take pleasure in the idea of intelligent life elsewhere in this wondrous Universe, I am strongly convinced that Homo sapiens’ quest for alien life is over-rated and its consequences, overlooked.

The Essence of Infinity

Raya Bidshahri, 23 January 2011
What I truly cherish about Science is its capacity to deliver the actual unbiased view of the manner in which things operate. In this field, there are neither prejudices nor one-sided arguments. [...]

Do We Really Exist?

Edeline D’Souza 23 January, 2011
In the progress of humanity and technology, computer storage space and processing power is increasing exponentially, doubling every 18 months to 2 years. In the last few years the interval has jumped even further to every 13 months [...]

The Suicide

Raya Bidshahri 23 January 2012
Untold numbers of skyscrapers towered over one another, thrusting up into the dusky urban sky. Here and there, myriads of lights glowed and if one gazed for long enough one could perceive them increase in numbers [...]

The Wonders of the Human Brain

Raya Bidshahri, 14 January 2012
The human brain is an elaborate, enthralling, and enigmatic organ on its own. It is within this wondrous organ that all the enigmas, puzzles, and riddles of the universe along with each and every branch of knowledge boil down to.

Forever Ago

Teresa Francis, 14 January 2012
Ms. Vernon was a woman whose wisdom was incredibly apparent. She was a few kilos overweight, though this did not stop anyone who saw her from realizing that once upon a time, she was probably a great beauty [...]

An Overdue Death

Aqilah Faaiqah, 14 January 2011
Darkness swallowed the sky as thunders bellowed the sinister call of death. The air of grimness thickened and suffocated the once joy-filled soul of Haley. The final annihilation was advancing and there were no escape routes this time.

Delora’s Felicity

Aqilah Faaiqah, 14 January 2011
Love – an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. But Delora’s definition of love was deviant; it was unparallel to what many romance novels have portrayed.

Flames

Edeline D’Souza 14 January 2011
People never really pay attention to the droning safety procedures of fire protocol, knowing or rather believing that nothing will ever strike them in the strangest of times and the most terrifying of circumstances. I was one of those people.

A New Awakening

Rohan Roberts, 11 January 2012
It took them a surprisingly long time to figure out that they were living in a universe that was just one bubble in a vast surging cosmic ocean filled with other bubble universes.

The Awesome Natural World

Raya Bidshahri, 11 January 2012
Amongst the hundreds of billions of galaxies that constitute this enigmatic universe, there lies a splendid star system in the midst of nowhere significant; a remarkable ivory whorl of glimmering celestial bodies.

The Mind Reader

Raya Bidshahri, 11 January 2012
Caroline’s eyelids snapped open to reveal her vivid hazel pupils as the tiresome alarm beeped away. Confined in a state of utter lethargy, She slammed her heavy palm against the obnoxious machine. It took a few moments for her to gain consciousness from the vigorous sleep she had been in.

What if…?

Raya Bidshahri, 7 January 2012
What if we all instantly awakened to learn that each and every trivial aspect of our ‘reality’ was merely a vivid dream? All our achievements and failures would turn out to be a trifle [...]

Ignition and Lift Off

Raya Bidshahri, 7 January 2011
After decades of aspiring and years of training, Noah was alas face-to-face with one of his greatest desires. For as long as his memory had served him, he had stared at the spectacular starry skies, open-mouthed in wonder [...]

Jayala and her Alternative Medicine

Rohan Roberts, 7 Jan 2012
Jayala Scattersmith was in thrall with alternative medicine. All it took to get her undying, unwavering support for any medical treatment was to tell her it wasn’t mainstream. If it was unconventional, she loved it. If it was unorthodox she embraced it. If it was flaky, funky, or freaky, she adored it.

Another 365 Days – now what?

Neiha Lasharie, 7 January 2012

Well, that’s another year come and gone. It’s as if it’d just been 24 hours since I was sitting at the beach with my best friend and smiling at the copious amounts of sea life-smiting gunpowder that illuminated the midnight sky and yet here we are, contemplating what resolutions we will break in 2012.

The Origins of Morality

Raya Bidshahri, 7 January 2012
In this day and age, there is a clear outline of the many aspects of ethics in society. By early adulthood, most of us are familiar with what is right and what is wrong. Yet, who are we to claim whether a certain deed is righteous or not? Indeed, what are our references when it comes to ethics? Where does our morality originate? [...]

The Open Door

Neiha Lasharie, 19 Dec 2011
I could feel my heart pounding. It was as if five thousand drums played simultaneously in my rib cage, the bass reverberating through my bones until my entire body shook with the percussion, from the tips of my toes to the top of my head.

Time

Raya Bidshahri, 18 December 2011
What is time? To an ordinary individual, with no exceptional perspective of reality or any intrinsic grounding in science, this may seem like an absurd question to ask [...]

Oblivion

Raya Bidshahri, 18 December 2011
Ava plodded along the soggy pavement, her glossy ebony hair glimmering under the dusky night sky that besieged her. She swathed herself in a cable-knit sweater for the brisk breeze was stabbing into her olive skin [...]

The Open Door

Heleriin Hein 16 Dec 2011
The bright red flame peered into the narrow pearl green grassland which opened the landscape to a beaming warm sunlight. The drizzle-filled air created a wet blanket of moisture that covered the muggy land.

The Open Door

Shafnaa Kasim 16 December 2o11
The September dusk was heavily aerated with intense smell of the dying hues of the last rays of the burning star and a melancholic ending to the summer that year.

The Open Door

Edeline D’Souza 16, December 2011
The steady progress of the sun as it crept its way across the multi-hued sky, trying in vain to catch up with the border of darkness that sped to the unknown.

The Open Door

Teresa Francis, 16 December 2011
When you get started on your very first job, you have an absolutely disgusting happy outlook on everything. You feel special, and you feel needed. After a while, you shall taste your first cynical thought. It may be something as simple as ‘she’s such a suck-up’ but it will taste bitter in your mouth, like accidental pith in an otherwise delicious lemon tart.

The Open Door

Raya Bidshahri, 10 December 2011
Joshua-52 transferred his entangled and sophisticated thoughts to the mighty processor that stood in front of him. His synthetic heart began to beat furiously beneath his chest; his electrically operated neurons shot around his body and his half-computerized mind began to sizzle.

Occultation of the Moon

Rohan Roberts, 10 December 2011
The Lunar eclipse is not really an eclipse. It’s an occultation of the moon.

Leonid Meteor Shower Camping Trip

Rohan Roberts, 24 November 2011
An account of the overnight camping trip to the desert made by the Winchester Astronomy Club to observe the Leonid Meteor Shower.

The Logophile

Raya Bidshahri, 18 November 2011
The lover of words had ensconced herself on the tired armchair. Her slim fingers clutched an ebony pen as she stared hungrily at the notebook that lay before her. Its bleached pages were bare, but this wouldn’t be for long.

I Wish You…

Rohan Roberts, 18 November 2011
I wish you lazy afternoons
Staring at your bookshelf,
Wondering what to read
Next.

Camping

Edeline D’Souza, 18 November 2011
The feeling of unzipping the tent after a good night’s sleep on the soft, shifting sands of the desert dunes to see a cool grey-tinted crisp morning; the freshly-laundered feel of the air on your bleary, reviving face, energising you for the coming bustle of the breakfast time flurry.

The Human Body

Yolany Aher, 18 November 2011
The human body is so magnificently complex. Time and time again, it never fails to completely and utterly baffle me. We all know that we breathe, we respire, we grow, and we see however, learning about how these things, these simple basic life functions occur is so mind boggling.

The Futile Search

Ysabella Manlangit, 18 November 2011
The feelings I had were unexplainable, though I thought I was prepared for this moment. I had to be; after all these years it was all I ever hoped for.

The Seamstress

Aqilah Faaiqah, 4 November 2011
She curled her fingers around the frigid metallic hand wheel as a flood of memories seized her mind and the whiff of rust tickled her nostrils.

Claire and the Super-massive Schwarzschild Black Hole

Rohan Roberts, 28 October 2011
Claire knew her time had come. But she was not going to be shoved down the precipice of eternal sleep. Rather, she chose to jump wilfully and with full control of her faculties.

If Only She Knew

Raya Bidshahri, 28 October 2011
His eyes unlatched and greeted the open air but he had yet to gain consciousness. It took a few languorous breaths until his powers of recall were restored.

Lucy’s Booth

Shennin Pieries, 28 October 2011
Lucy sat at the corner booth of the diner, having her usual: pancakes and honey with whipped cream on the side, topped with a single strawberry.

The Wave

Shennin Pieries, 21 Oct 2011

I sat in my dusty, antiquated attic. It had a single window illuminating the room, and had a deep, rich smell of lost history and hidden knowledge. It was then that I stumbled upon a box.

The Lonely

Teresa Francis, 14 October 2011
Matthew sat on his usual stool, despondent, dull, and dim. He felt uninspired, but more than that, he felt empty, a complex messy feeling that he couldn’t quite comprehend and couldn’t quite understand the depth of. How was it possible that a single person could make one feel so defeated, so useless?

Niagra Falls

Edeline D’Souza, 12 October 2011
The gushing deluge that is the Niagara Falls, located in the south or south-eastern part of Ontario, Canada, is a breath-taking exemplar of Mother Nature’s artistic flair.

Keats and his Awful Rainbow

Rohan Roberts, 9 October 2011
A defence of reason and wonder.

The Story of a Poet

Shaday Collie, 8 October 2011

A story about an aspiring poet.

Winter Dance

Heleriin Hein, 2 October 2011
The landscape was covered with a sheet of white. Snowflakes danced and swayed themselves to the ground covering everything an eye could see. The night was cold and dead. Thick blankets of ice lay on the roads shimmering under the light of the moon. The forest was a dark and fighting sight at night. Spider webs and creepy crawlies were guarding at every entrance.

Fortunate Species

Raya Bidshahri, 1 Oct 2011

The more mankind hunts the cosmos for traces of intelligent life, the more we fathom its scarcity. For decades, the human race has moved the heavens and the earth to locate even the most trifling traces of living creatures. It is as if we are smothering in loneliness amongst this infinite universe, intensely hoping that we are not alone.

The Well of Madness

Raya Bidshahri, 16 May ‘11
The clouds spread ravishingly against the love-me-blue sky that sheathed the majestic castle. It was one of those flawless days where butterflies soared and gaudy florets blossomed [...]

Best Friends Forever

Teresa Francis, 16 May ‘11
Never had she imagined it possible for her to have this feeling: this cold feeling of solitude, this feeling of despair that spread out from her heart to her lungs, filling her body, making it numb like some anesthetic given to stop pain.